FRIDAY SPINSTER BLISS

St Joe County Public Library...Francis Branch.

 

FUTZINGDAY

My day started at the Nephrologist's office for a follow-up. As I was waiting to check in, I admired the lady in front of me for being so well put together. From the top of her well-coiffed head to the tips of her perfectly manicured toes, she looked great. Great outfit, great shoes, great bag, and beautiful hair and makeup. 

And then there was me....in my Woman Within sweatsuit and bright white Sketchers that are two sizes too big and make me feel like I have bags of marshmallows on my feet. I was clean and had properly deoderized, but pulled together?  Um. Not so much.

 Do you think I'm EVER going to get my act together?

After a Starbucks pickup (Cold brew with sugar free vanilla syrup, a light splash of half and half and cold foam) I was in the chair for some afternoon stitching time:

I love how quickly this one is stitching, and the red is really truly blowing my skirt up! 

JB enjoyed his time out on the balcony listening to Philly sports radio, then came in and announced that we were going to go watch some baseball since it looked like the weather was favorable.

It was:

My Irish beat Western Michigan by a score of 2-1. We had fantastic seats, and it was just beautiful out there in the fresh air and semi-sunshine!

Tomorrow is a bill-paying/paperwork/dining room table kind of day. I have piles and piles of mail and such that needs to be sorted, and I'm hoping to get my planner out and play with stickers and markers and glitter and stuff.

I hope your Futzingday was wonderful, and that you futzed with impunity like I did! 

What's blowing YOUR skirt up? Come tell me all about it!

MONDAY PROGRESS

I'm happy to report that I did my ENTIRE laundry today! Washed, dried, folded, and put it all away, thankyouverymuch. I also started this new lovely little project and am enjoying it after dinner while listening to the 76ers.

All in all a very lovely Monday, indeed!

FEE NEE FROM THE HAPPY CHAIR

 There Dwells My Heart

Shepherd's Bush

Full kit with fabric, threads, and buttons

Quote says: Where My Home Is There Dwells My Heart

Next up:

I kitted both, but think I will start the 2023 Collector's Heart from Heart in Hand Designs (bottom image).

IT WAS A PERFECT DAY

 

Thank you, Dearies, for all of your lovely birthday wishes!  I enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at my favorite place downtown South Bend, and then we spent some time people watching at the Grotto before coming home for relaxing and stitching.  Quiet and just perfect!

THAT HAPPENED FAST.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNT CHRISSY

Today is my sister's birthday, and as per tradition, I repeat my favorite story. If you're new here, she is my little sister by five years, but referred to as "Aunt Chrissy" because that's what Stewey called her.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Chrissy! I hope it's full of stitching, and love, and good things.

My favorite Aunt Chrissy story takes place on Eater Sunday 1975.....

Scene: A bustling kitchen in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A mother scurries about, getting Easter dinner ready. She glances to her left and sees her youngest daughter standing in the doorway.

Mother: Chrissy, I told you that I'm really busy right now and need to get this dinner ready. Can you go play with your Barbies for a few minutes, sweetheart?

Chrissy: Sure, Mommy. But I have so many things to tell you that I thought I would stand here and talk to you while you cook. That way I can fulfill my need to be talking every waking moment of the day and you get to spend some quality time with me.

Mother: Why don't you go wait for Grandma and Uncle Connie to get here?

The little girl walks to the front closet, gets her little green velvet coat, and heads out to the front porch. She sits on the cold hard cement and thinks about what a bust this holiday has been for her. Yesterday, she and her brilliant and gorgeous older sister Constance were playing nuns. This was an activity that they both loved, and two white terry cloth bath towels were always put into use as a simple yet effective head-covering.

Yesterday, though, something seemed off. Constance was out of sorts and was bossier than usual. "Nuns don't have curly hair", she grumbled. "We need to get rid of those stupid curls sticking out of your head thingie."

"OK", the little girl said as she trotted off to get the big scissors. "Will you cut it for me, Coni Jo? I'm only four and not allowed to use the big scissors."

The older sister grinned as she maniacally snipped and snipped all of the gorgeous light brown curls away from her little sister's face.

"There", said Constance. "Now you look like a real nun."

As she reflected on the ensuing spanking that both she and her sister received, the little girl wondered why it was such a big deal that she would have to go to Easter Sunday Church services with her hat on. Didn't everybody wear a hat for Easter?

Later that afternoon, the mother stopped the dinner preparations to call out to the little girl.

Mother: Chrissy? Where are you, honey? Come here and try a pickled beet for me to see if I've got them right. Chrissy?

Constance: She's outside.

Mother: WHAT!!! WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING OUTSIDE?!


Constance: You told her to go wait for Grandma.

Mother: Oh for crying out loud! THEY'RE DRIVING IN FROM LIMA AND WON'T BE HERE FOR FOUR HOURS! IT'S TWENTY TWO DEGREES OUT THERE! GO GET YOUR LITTLE SISTER AND TELL HER TO GET IN HERE!!

Constance: OK.

Sadly, Constance is distracted by the latest Nancy Drew mystery that was in her Easter basket that morning. She heads into the den and buries her nose in the book...completely forgetting about her tiny little sister standing alone outside on the front porch.

Later that afternoon....

The front door opens and several voices are heard.

Grandma: Sig?! Are you home? What the hell is Chrissy doing standing out on the front porch?! We pulled up and she said that she had been out there all day waiting for us! Her little nose is running and she's frozen solid! What the heck are you people doing in here?

The relatives all kiss and hug hello in stony silence as the little girl heads upstairs for a hot bath. As she's hanging up her coat, she glances at the curls hidden in the wastebasket and decides that Christmas is definitely her favorite holiday.

THE END


P.S. Here's a few things you should know about Aunt Chrissy:

1. Yes, the hair story is completely true. When she was little she had positively gorgeous light brown curly ringlets that covered her head. I cut them off. (What can I say? I had a head like a bowling ball and was evil.)

2. My sister talked from the minute she woke up until the minute she passed out in her little bed. Some nights, she would tip-toe to the side of Mom and Dad's bed and poke Mom awake because she had more to say or had "forgetted to tell you something."

3. She was a very good little girl and usually did exactly what she was told, so the story above is as true and accurate as I can remember it. We believe that she had been out on that porch for at least three hours, because when Grandma and Uncle Connie finally got there they said she was really really shivering and her lips were a bit blue.

4. My sister isn't just in my life...she is my life. (Sorry, that's a line from Tony Soprano, but it's just too damn apropos not to use it here.) She is funny and kind and strong and very very brave. She takes care of me, tolerates my silly little dog, and feeds all of the birds, squirrels and ducks faithfully and with great care. She is the rock and the leader of our little family, and there are times when I really wonder what I did to be given such a gift of this particular sister. I love her, need her, and care about her more than anything or anyone I've ever known, and I cannot and will not live my life without her in it.

So there you have it. Aunt Chrissy turns 39 today and I couldn't be happier about it.

TAKING A MINUTE TO HAVE A LITTLE THINK...BACK LATER

 

HAPPY EASTER, DEARIES

DON'T WORRY...THE SPINSTER IS BUCKLED IN * EDITED

* ADDED SUNDAY MORNING AFTER READING COMMENTS

Dear Anonymous Friends:

I apologize.

I really am sincerely sorry for offending you by the junk food post. More importantly, however, I really am sorry that I a) bought all of the damn stuff in the first place and then b) made a half-assed joke about it all in the second.

You are right, and I 100% agree with you. I owe you more, I owe myself more, and I owe Rich more by not thinking bingeing on stuff that's bad for us is a "treat".

So please accept my heartfelt apology and feel free to contact me directly if you'd like to discuss further, or you are certainly welcome to continue to join me here.

I'm going to take a little break and get my head and heart in a better place.

Coni

The Spinster Stitcher

......................................

Sorry to alarm, disappoint, and upset you, Dearies. I honestly didn't think the junk food picture would offend so many, but never fear...those items were purchased for JB as an Easter treat and my comments about resisting them was an attempt at a bit of Spinster humor that obviously fell completely flat.

Many of you have asked me about the performance of The Passion. There are several places online where you can watch it...I think YouTube is your best bet. The choir toured the East Coast in March and then performed it on campus last night out on the South Quad.

We're heading out for dinner and then Easter Vigil Mass in the Basilica tonight, so I'm going to scoot and get myself ready.

Happy Easter!

INCREDIBLE. PROUD TO BE ND.

 On Ash Wednesday (Feb. 22), the Notre Dame Folk Choir will release its latest album, “The Passion.”

Through song and spoken word, the album’s 40 tracks present the events of Holy Week through the eyes of Jesus’ disciples, led by a character called Memory who guides them as they grieve the loss of their friend.

The Folk Choir serves the University community, including the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, as one of the principal liturgical choirs. Since its founding more than 40 years ago, it has toured across five continents and released eight studio albums.

For two years, the choir’s 60 students collaborated with professional artists, including poet and librettist Tristan Cooley, to compose the text and music of “The Passion,” staging the work over a series of workshops and retreats designed to communally rediscover the mystery of Christ’s saving passion and death.

“This collective work of praise invites listeners to find themselves in the story and to contemplate the experience of Christ’s passion,” said J.J. Wright, director of the Folk Choir. “The theology underlying this piece is that the passion as a faith environment can help us enter into a discussion about difficult  things in our own lives in a meaningful way.”

Produced by three-time Grammy winner Joe Henry and directed by Wright, the album was recorded in Jerusalem at the end of the choir’s weeklong pilgrimage to the Holy Land. While there, the students traveled from Galilee to Golgotha, following in the footsteps of Jesus — an experience that was not only moving but also added depth to the project, Wright said.

Members of the Notre Dame Folk Choir in Jerusalem

“The day we recorded the crucifixion scene, we went to the Holy Sepulchre in the morning so that we could connect our artistic work with our faith and our ministerial work,” Wright said. “It was really impactful in all the ways that we had hoped. In the end, I think we were able to capture something really special because of the context that we were in.”

In support of the album, the Folk Choir is embarking on an East Coast tour, where it will perform a fully staged production of “The Passion” directed by Matt Hawkins, director of musical theater at Notre Dame. The tour, which will feature an all-student cast, will conclude with an on-campus performance on Notre Dame’s South Quad on Good Friday (April 7).

A TALE OF TWO SPINSTERS

Made these lovely sandwiches for dinner and only ate half....chicken cutlet, sharp provolone, red peppers, and broccoli rabe with garlic on a crusty roll:

And then ordered all of this crap for dessert:

 

I'm practicing self-control, Dearies, but staying away from the Corn Nuts is going to be a challenge! 

And the Crunch 'n Munch.

And the m&ms.

And the ice cream cones.

Time to thread up so my hands (and tiny brain) are occupied!

WE'RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER SALAD BOWL...

 

This took entirely too much time to do today, but I am simply determined to never throw away another unused vegetable again. This prep makes it very easy to make a healthy choice at 5:30 when I'm ready to go face first into DoorDash, so I've got that going for me too.

(The containers were a bargain from the Costco, and as long as I'm careful to open or close their little vents, they really do seem to prolong the life of whatever is in them.)

(But if anybody has any good tips for this kind of thing and how I can do it better...I'm all ears.)

No stitching to report, I'm afraid. Our silly weather has thrown me into a bit of a headache cycle, so I am ending up in bed instead of happily ensconced with needle and thread.

Happy Futzingday, Dearies. I hope that you are well and that you have everything you need to be perfectly, wonderfully happy!

ALMOST THERE...

 

As soon as my little chores are complete, I hope to finish this little beauty! I made great progress on all of the stars and moteefs under the flag last night!

 

 

WHAT DAY IS IT?

Let me tell you, Dearies....Cipro is not for the feint of heart! I have been knocked right onto my ample backside by industrial strength meds, and although I am very thankful to have them available to fix me...

Yowsa.

Needless to say, I am a bit stumbly these last few days, and am not really super sure of what day it is or where I am at the moment, but as long as there's plenty of damn good, adequate light to stitchy by, and the big girl sleigh bed to fall into each night, I'm better than OK.

I'm fantastic.

Here's a look at my little pile of fun:

I've got a week's worth of newspapers to read, hours of interwebbing to do, and some pretty good progress on my little Shepherd's Bush piece:

Filling in that hill seemed to take forever, but it was exactly what my tiny little brain needed to distract itself from the world. I have several more moteefs and the left side border to finish, and then this one goes into the Fuppy box (*).

I see my BeanTeam tomorrow, and I will see all of the other docs next week, so by the time March has ended I will be checked out stem to stern, as it was. I suppose the only thing left will be to have my head examined, but that's a whole other regiment of trained professionals, and nobody has time for that!

In the meantime, there's pickleball to be played and lots of Mass going to be done, and then hopefully some sunshine to be enjoyed. I'm not quite able to do so yet, but eventually I'd like to get myself out there for a walk or two.

What's new in your corner of the world? 

(*) The Fuppy box is where all of my stitched, but not finally finished pieces live. I'd love to tell you that I created that term, but it was shamelessly stolen from another stitchy blogger whose name/handle completely escapes me. So with apologies to a fellow member of this thing of ours...I use it with homage to them!
 

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN. JIGGIDY JIGG.

 

IN WHICH WE PRETEND WE'RE AT THE FOUR SEASONS

 

Good morning, Dearies!

No news for you yet today. I had a very restful evening stitching, and then a not so restful night of sleep. Aside from the taking of the vitals and the scoping and prodding and drawing of things, this could be a mid-level Marriott somewhere in the industrial Midwest.

So far, labs indicate that BellyBean is comfy in there and not feeling the effects of whatever is ailing me. Numbers are remarkably good for a kidney under duress, so I am holding out hope that this was a bug that we caught early.

They removed the iv thanks to my propensity to drink my body weight in fluid, so aside from being in a hospital and having so many people in and out...it's just like a regular Thursday.

Thank you for your love and happy thoughts and prayers. They are, as always, the best medicine!

DRAT

 

Well, Dearies, guess God had other plans for me today.

I was supposed to be in Chicago seeing Tina the Musical, but I ended up in the ER at 5am instead. I've been having some tenderness in the area of belly bean, and I woke up in the middle of the night and thought "Something's not right" and I brought myself over to get checked out.

They've admitted me for overnight observation and IV fluids, and it looks like it might be an infection of some sort. No idea what yet, but the team is on it, and I am in good hands.

Rich, bless his heart, has just left to pick up a few Starbucks for me, so I will be perfectly fine once they kick in.

I do have stitching, but all of the attachments might make it...interesting.

Stay tuned!

THE OFFICIAL SPINSTER STITCHER TUESDAY TO DO LIST

 

WEEKEND PROGRESS

 

 

I SWEAR YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP

In case you haven't noticed, Dearies, I have been trying my level best to turn new leeeefs all over the place. I'm eating better, trying to take better care of my skin, turning of the iPad thingie, and saying YES to things that require me to leave the apartment.

JB signed us up for a pickleball clinic at a local racquet club, and when he mentioned it a month and a half ago I'm sure I said something like "Sure, Lovey. That sounds like fun".

But, because you know me, you also know that when he reminded me that we were going to said clinic this afternoon, I went into full on meltdown mode and stomped my feet and threw a fit and had a panic attack and did every damn thing I could think of not to go.

I rallied, however, and put on my big girl sweatpants and my big girl t-shirt and my big girl sweatshirt and found suitable shoes and socks and got on with it.

It was a lot of fun!

Me...

Rich...

and...

MY GYNECOLOGIST.

Yup. I just spent the last hour taking a pickleball clinic waiting for Dr Nancy to tell me to scoot my bottom to the very edge of the court and to just relax, and to check out at the front desk and make an appointment for a year.

Happy weekend, Dearies! I'm going to go pull the covers over my head for a minute.

 

READY TO (SHAM)ROCK

 

TUESDAY NIGHT BLISS

 

A little big girl sleigh bed stitching in the wee small hours of the morning. I could not sleep to save my life, so I decided to use the time and just relax and listen to the radio while happily stitching away.

I fell off the diet wagon...hard...last night, but it slowed down long enough as it lumbered down the lane for me to catch up and jump back on. A minor blip, but a major shift in mindset since I didn't just give up on the entire week and decide to start over "next Monday".

So today I will behave myself and will definitely take a nice long snoozy nap later before a good healthy dinner of chicken on top of salad.

Happy Futzingday, Dearies! I hope all of your wagons are going exactly in the right direction!

MONDAY

Good morning, Dearies! Here we are on another Monday. The sun is shining here in Hoosierville, but the snowflakes are also falling and the birds are sweetly tweeting, so methinks we're a little corn-fused.

I'm making progress on There Dwells My Heart:

And am enjoying this for breakfast every day. Stonefire original mini naan with an itty bitty schmear of whipped chive and onion cream cheese, mashed avocado, Canadian bacon, egg, everything bagel seasoning, and Hidden Valley Ranch spicy secret sauce:

And labwork. There's always a lot of labwork:

I'm going to re-fill the damn good mug, have another big slurp of water, and watch Succession and stitch for the rest of the afternoon. Just what this Monday ordered!

What's new with you? Come tell me all about it!

 

NEXT UP!

 

ANOTHER FEE NEE!

 Spring Rolls

Plum Street Samplers

28ct Ophelia lugana from Colour&Cotton

WDW threads per the chart

This was a delight to play with from beginning to end, and I can't wait to stitch others in the series! 

WHAT'S THIS CRACK OF DAWN BUSINESS ALL ABOUT, SPINSTER STITCHER?

My Jersey Boy had an 8am appointment for a cortisone shot this morning, so as his emotional support person, I was required to go and...provide emotional support.

(When I tell you that my Jersey Boy doesn't like anything medical, what I mean by that is that he is absolutely positively terrified of anything medical. He has been in a state of high alert stress nerves over the prospect of having to get this shot, and I swear the only reason he went through with it is the prospect of being able to play pain free golf this summer.)

So away we went, and while he chattered away like a circus monkey about baseball, the doctor administered the shot (with what looked to be an eighteen inch needle!), and JB lived to talk about it.

I treated him to a breakfast bagel after, and now he's happily tipped back in his chair watching the vsin boys talk sports. Hopefully within a day or two he'll start to feel better and both of us can get to the gym on a more regular basis.

Last night was Salad Bar night:

I just love the containers. They were on sale at the Costco, so I picked up an extra set so I can continue to do this whole veggie prep thing for clean eating. If I can open the fridge and just grab and go, I'm definitely more likely to make a good choice. And the big bowl has completely changed my life in terms of tossing, I tell ya...an amazon purchase that has paid for itself in terms of numbers on the scale.

If all goes according to plan, I should be able to finish this today:

I have really enjoyed stitching lately, so I'm hoping that the momentum will continue and I can get back to spending more and more time with needle and thread and less and less time on this here iPad thingie.

That's the Spinster report for a Tuesday! The sun is shining here in Hoosierville, and I'm going to gran another cup of damn good and get on with it!

What's new with you, Dearies? Come tell me all about it!

PSSSSST...

Dearies, forever ago my Guild ladies had these wonderful leather cases that they carried to and fro with their supplies in them. I think they were called namaste buddy cases?

Does anybody know where I can find them or something similar? Ideally, I'm looking for a zippered box measuring approximately 6in by9in and about 2in deep with an open compartment.

A stitchy friend asked me for help in finding one, and I'm stumped!

SATURDAY

 

My Irish aren't looking very good, I'm afraid. Rich says it's because we're missing three of our top players, but I'm not too sure about that. 

A lazy Saturday so far. I'm enjoying my damn good and the sunshine bouncing off of the bright white snow, and eventually I'll get my act together and put some laundry away and spiff up the big girl sleigh bed.

For now, though, I'm going to enjoy the newspaper and maybe a few stitches before it's time to get ready for 5:00 Mass.

What's new with you, Dearies? Come tell me all about it!

THURSDAY TO DO LIST